Welcome to GVI Fiji's Community Development Programme blog. Here you can keep up to date with our projects in Fiji.

GVI is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

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Monday, November 4, 2013

Every Wednesday I wake up and have 2 cups of coffee, with extra coffee, opposed to the normal one. Why am the excess you may ask? Because Wednesday is Kids Club day, and you need to bring your A game. School runs the same, for the exception of the occasional, and by occasional I mean every 5 minute, interruption from a Silana based child screaming 'KIDS CLUB 4:00 TODAY!', note this is more of a proclamation rather than a question.

Every Wednesday at 4:00 pm I get a team together to help gather all the kids in the community hall for the magic of Kids Club. Four sessions in and I am still bewildered by the kids endless excitement, and ability to clean things up in the same amount of time they destroy them, which is approximately 2 minutes when your back is turned. I have also learned to never underestimate the power of 1 child running around the village screaming "kids club", because while we always start with approximately 10 kids there, in a blink of an eye about 30 - 40 more come out of the woodwork.

You see the challenge of kids club is:

1. Always preparing for at least 40 children to show up

2. Planning an activity you can explain to children who have limited English

3. Making sure that activity is suitable for ages 2 - 26

Week one, my silly silly naive self thought 'Musical Chairs! What a great idea!'. We passed out a piece of cardboard to each child, who then proceeded to play their own game of 'collect the most amount of cardboard possible, don't let anything stop you, this is my hunger games'. Our dinky little speakers clearly were not good enough, and the next thing you know a family walks in with a sound system. Thus musical chairs turned into 'musical kids club 3 hour dance party', which was no problem at all. I basically got to live out my dream of being a bar mitzvah MC.

Week two! So knowledgeable. So ready. Went prepared with enough paint and flags for the kids to design, and face paint to celebrate Fiji day! Paint ended up on bodies, and puppies, and pretty much anywhere but the flags. The boys all got turned into super hero's, so obviously there was a lot of jumping from rafters and busting through windows. Highlight of the week, the women lining up to get their faces painted as well, and this ray of sunshine in the photo below who does the best photobombs.

Week 3, invincible at this point, right? Rainy day kids club, it must slow them down. I brought along a fish puzzle a volunteer made for Class 1 + 2's art project, and paper doll chains to color in. I even carried over enough scrap paper to make sure paint ended up no where but the fish!

. . . we ended up giving each other mustache and uni-brows once the 25 fish puzzles and 50 paper dolls ran out.

Week 4: The perfect solution for a week of rain, movie day. I really wanted 'The Lion King' because bright colors and singing animals is really all you need to be happy in life. Unfortunately we did not have a copy here, appalling I know, so we went with probably the 108th best option; 'Rio'. Watching the kids reaction to something they clearly did not understand was the most entertaining movie I have ever seen. As Steve so delicately put it 'nothing brings down the house like a colorful bird bouncing off a ladies behind to the beat of a song'.

As exhausting as kids club can be, it is still my favorite time week after week. I have never laughed so hard and still cannot fathom how much respect and cooperation comes from a group of kids you can only share 10 words with.

Quotes from the field

"I appreciate everything you did for me from coordinating my exit to managing my shellfish allergy to making sure I had a wonderful experience. It was truly one of the most impactful and rewarding experiences of my life. It is evident the two of you have clearly put a lot of work into this program - thanks!" - Sarah Clark, June 2011

"Teaching in Fiji was an amazing experience! 17 smiling students sometimes without pencils to write or chairs to sit on, but super eager to learn and wow were they good at sport! The Yasawa Islands are remarkable, the people gorgeous and the snorkeling and diving breathtaking! I would highly recommend ‘GVI' if you feel like having a holiday and making a difference!", Susan Carter, June 2011

"Bula! I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived back safely in London and to say thanks for helping to make my experience in Fiji so memorable.I had a really great time both teaching on the project and hanging out with everyone back at base. Without your dedication, hard work and concern for all of us, I doubt that the project would have run as well as it did – which is especially impressive considering that we were the very first group – so vinaka vaka levu! What you guys are doing in Fiji is great and I’m sure that the community will benefit immensely from all the projects." - Sara, July 2011